Cara povs
I woke to the rhythmic sound of wheels turning, my body aching as if every limb had been torn from its socket. My head pounded, and my eyes struggled to adjust to the harsh sunlight piercing through the carriage windows.
Carriage?
Panic surged through me, and I jerked upright, scanning my surroundings frantically. That’s when I saw him, seated comfortably across from me with a book casually resting on his lap, Garreth, Brian’s Beta aka lap dog.
“Well, look who’s finally awake,” he drawled, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Morning, sunshine.”
I blinked, still trying to process what was happening. The last thing I remembered was… “Where are we? What’s going on? How long have we been traveling?” I fired questions one after the other, confusion and fear twisting in my gut.
“Relax,” Garreth chuckled, as if this were all some grand joke. “We’ve still got a ways to go before we reach our destination.”
It hit me like a punch to the gut. I have been captured. Taken back to him. Back to Brian. My breath caught in my throat, and for a moment, I couldn’t speak, couldn’t think. So this was it. I was truly caught. And worse, I couldn’t shake the betrayal that gnawed at my heart, Alexander. He sold me out.
But why, I thought we were over me rejecting him, and finally we became friends.
I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms as anger rose, threatening to drown out the fear. Garreth watched me with amusement, clearly relishing the sight of me struggling. “Didn’t think it would be that easy to run, did you?” he taunted, leaning forward. “You didn’t really believe you could escape forever, did you?”
I glared at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction. “You think you’re so powerful, don’t you? Sitting there all high and mighty. But you’re nothing more than a glorified lapdog for Brian,” I snapped back, my voice dripping with venom. “You don’t even have your own will. You’re just another pawn. Nothing separates you from a slave like me.”
Garreth’s smirk faltered, and I saw a flicker of something dark and dangerous in his eyes. “Watch your mouth, Cara,” he warned, his tone icy. “You have no idea who you’re talking to.”
“Or maybe you have no idea who you’re serving,” I retorted, leaning forward to meet his gaze head-on. “You act like you’re so important, but at the end of the day, you’re just another lost soul doing someone else’s bidding. You’ve got no freedom, no choices. Just orders to follow. At least I tried to escape my chains. What’s your excuse?”
His jaw tightened, and for a moment, I thought he might hit me, have i gone over the line?. Instead, he took a deep breath, his fists clenching and unclenching. “You think you know everything, don’t you?” he hissed, eyes blazing. “You don’t know the first thing about loyalty. About what it means to be saved.”
“Saved?” I scoffed, shaking my head. “You mean trapped. You’re no different from me, Garreth. The only difference is that I still have a chance to fight back.”
He slammed his hand against the side of the carriage, startling me into silence. “You listen to me,” he growled, voice low and dangerous. “Brian found me when I was nothing. I was lost, abandoned in the forest, with no hope, no future. He saved me when no one else would. He gave me a purpose and gave me a life. I owe him everything.”
The raw emotion in his voice caught me off guard, but I quickly masked my surprise. “And that’s why you’re willing to be his lapdog?” I shot back, unwilling to back down. “To serve him without question, without a shred of dignity? Is that what you call loyalty?”
Garreth’s eyes flashed, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of pain, of something vulnerable, before he quickly buried it behind a wall of anger. “You don’t understand,” he snapped, his tone sharper, colder. “You could never understand.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I said quietly, my voice softening despite myself. “Maybe I don’t understand what it’s like to be saved. But I do know what it’s like to be trapped. And I refuse to be trapped again.”
His expression hardened once more, the mask of indifference slipping back into place. “Well, you won’t have a choice soon,” he said with a bitter smile. “Because one way or another, you’re going back to him. If I were you, I would act like a little personal slave, that you are, and finally learn what loyalty really means.”
I held his gaze, refusing to show the fear clawing at my heart. “And you’ll learn,” I whispered, “that chains, no matter how decorated and comfortable they are, are still chains.”
He stared at me for a moment, something unreadable flickering in his eyes before he abruptly turned away, focusing back on the book in his lap. “Get some rest,” he muttered. “We’ve still got a long journey ahead.”
“And for your information, you were unconscious for three days now,” after some pause he continued “you are being saved Cara, that’s what it is, even though you don’t like how you are being treated but that is part of precaution.” he said softly, his demeanor changing instantly.
Warning of Debby about him flickering in my head, “he is dangerous, maybe more dangerous” These had been her exact words, and I was beginning to see it.
Garreth was very dangerous, even as he is a rogue, I almost forgot that, from how refined and behaved he carried himself.
I leaned back, closing my eyes, and let out a shaky breath. My heart ached with the weight of everything I’d lost, everything I stood to lose. But even as fear threatened to consume me, I clung to the one thing that kept me going, the hope that one day this would be over.
A wave of nursea came over me, feeling like the world was spinning before my eyes. I blacked out.
**********
I woke up again and still noticed that we were still on our way. By now, Garreth was already done with his book. from my calculations, we have been traveling for four days now, and it made me wonder, “Did I really run all this distance by myself?”
“You know you could have really escaped this time around,” his voice broke the silence.
“And I can’t believe that you spent the last one or two weeks of your life running away far from this. Almost coming out of the Great Woods… am impressed”
This was the third time I had awakened . Now, I have already gotten my energy back, and my sight is no longer foggy.
I purposely ignored his words, surprised that he at least didn’t know the exact truth. Alexander, in his betrayal, didn’t tell him such vital information, but only he knew why. It doesn’t justify the fact that he betrayed me.
He thought it had taken me a week or two to reach Alexander’s pack, but in truth, it took me just a day and some hours.
After a while, the familiar scenery of mafinas wolf pack started flashing by, my tensions returning like an overflowing dam.
Garreth chuckled, “welcome home, my luna” giving me a knowing look. But seeing I was not in the mood, the happy mood left his face.
Looking around, he peered around before leaning down, whispering to my ears. “See Cara, this was not my choice, if left for me, I won’t do this, but know that you are save with us, there are some dangerous and powerful people looking for you because of your bloodline”
“We…i want to keep you save”
Stepping out of the carriage, the outline of the cabin was in front of me, looming like a dark shadow in my life.
One other thing was looming over me, I could feel his presence, the fiery feeling of the mate bond that had been quiet all this flared back to life.
Brian was inside the cabin, and from back feelings I was getting from the bond, he was angrily waiting for me.